Recently, a big news has erupted in the military circle: the carrier version of the Attack-11, namely the Attack-21 stealth drone, when it was test-flown, actually lowered an internal tailhook! This small part directly made China the first country in the world to be able to land a flying-wing layout drone on an aircraft carrier. You know, even the X-47B, which the United States once boasted about, ultimately failed to overcome this hurdle. What's the secret behind this tailhook that makes the US admit defeat?

First, let me give some friends who are not familiar with this a brief introduction: a flying-wing aircraft is a fighter that looks like a "big bat" without a tail fin, such as the B-2 bomber. This design maximizes stealth, but making it land on an aircraft carrier is like a "death zone" in the aviation field. The US tried for years but couldn't solve it and finally gave up. Why can China succeed? Let's break down how difficult this is.

The difficulty of landing a flying-wing aircraft on a ship can be summed up in three words: unstable, hard to control, and prone to accidents. Specifically, there are three major pitfalls.

The first pitfall: controlling the pitch is all guesswork. Ordinary aircraft have horizontal stabilizers, which act like a ship's rudder, allowing precise control of pitch by a slight movement. However, flying-wing aircraft discard the tail fin for stealth, relying only on small control surfaces at the trailing edge of the wings.

These small control surfaces are very close to the center of gravity, similar to pushing a table with your fingertips, requiring maximum effort to move slightly; worse still, when you bend the control surface down to lift the nose, it generates additional lift that pushes the plane upward; when you bend it up to lower the nose, the lift suddenly drops, causing the plane to drop immediately. It's like walking on a tightrope, a slight movement could lead to a disaster.

The second pitfall: any wind causes it to "dance". Ordinary aircraft have vertical stabilizers, which automatically correct themselves when hit by crosswinds, like a kite's tail.

Flying-wing aircraft also eliminate the vertical tail fin, so during low-speed landing, even a little crosswind makes the fuselage unable to self-correct, instead causing it to swing left and right, performing a "Dutch roll", which can result in wingtip contact with the ground and a crash. An aircraft carrier deck is just a small area, and it's also on the sea, which is like trying to thread a needle on a wobbly table.

The third pitfall: if it stalls, there's no way to save it. In ordinary aircraft, the stall of the wing and tail fin does not happen simultaneously, and there is time for recovery.

A flying-wing is a single unit, and once a part of the wing stalls, the control surfaces behind it immediately fail, causing a sudden roll. More critically, aircraft carrier landings require low speed and precise descent, which is already near the stall limit, and the flying-wing has almost zero tolerance for errors under these conditions, making even a small mistake likely to result in a crash on the deck.

The US's X-47B fell into these three problems, although it completed simple test flights, the military evaluated that each landing was like gambling with one's life, and it was impossible to use in real combat, so the project was eventually abandoned. How did China's Attack-11 break through? It relied on "electronic magic" and system integration.

The core secret is a super powerful "optical transmission flight control system." Simply put, it's a highly capable onboard computer that calculates various aerodynamic changes of the flying-wing in real-time.

Once the pilot gives the "landing" command, the computer will automatically control multiple control surfaces to work together, using high-frequency, tiny adjustments to counteract the instability of the flying-wing. It's like giving the "big bat" a super brain, compensating for its inherent flaws.

Having a brain alone isn't enough. The Attack-11 also adds "auxiliary equipment": in addition to the main control surfaces, it also has split flaps, spoilers, and possibly even vector thrust technology, providing extra control power when needed; even more impressive is the "direct force control" technology, which adjusts lift and drag without changing the aircraft's attitude, enabling centimeter-level corrections during landing, equivalent to installing a "precision navigation system" on the plane.

Of course, this also depends on the cooperation of the aircraft carrier. The Attack-21 is likely to be connected with the electromagnetic catapults and advanced landing guidance systems of the Fujian Ship and the 076 amphibious ship, achieving "ship-aircraft integration" automated control, minimizing human error as much as possible. In short, the plane and the aircraft carrier communicate in real-time, working together to complete a safe landing.

Some people may ask: isn't it just a drone being able to go on board? Is it really that exciting? The significance of this event is huge, directly rewriting the rules of maritime and air warfare.

First, it created the prototype of the world's first "drone aircraft carrier." The radar cross-section of the Attack-21 is very small, and its stealth performance is the best among current military aircraft. Combined with AI autonomous decision-making capabilities, it can form a stealth strike group, advancing to the Second Island Chain to perform tasks, significantly enhancing the safety and striking range of the aircraft carrier fleet.

Second, it achieved a revolutionary change in "manned aircraft + drone" operations. Previously, CCTV had exposed the image of the J-20S commanding multiple Attack-11s. Now that the Attack-11 can go on board, it means this model can be moved onto the aircraft carrier. The J-35 acts as the "command center," while the Attack-11 serves as the "loyal wingman," capable of both reconnaissance and attack, without worrying about personnel casualties. This tactical advantage is unmatched by other countries.

More importantly, China has achieved "generational leadership" in this new track. Currently, the US can only settle for the conventional aerodynamic layout MQ-25 refueling drone, while Europe is still in the verification stage. Only China has truly turned the flying-wing stealth drone into a carrier-based operational equipment. When the Fujian Ship is equipped with the Attack-21 and forms combat capability, the maritime and aerial situation in the Western Pacific will change dramatically.

Looking back at that small tailhook, what it hooks is not only the aircraft carrier's arresting cable, but also the new era of unmanned aerial warfare. While other countries are still debating whether they can do it, China has given an answer with actual actions - this is the confidence of technological leadership.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7570321164770558500/

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